Ilya Kovalchuk inked a 17-year, $102 million deal to stay with the Devils for the rest of his career. Ilya Kovalchuk inked a 17-year, $102 million deal to stay with the Devils for the rest of his career.

The process for the Devils to re-sign Ilya Kovalchuk to one of the most lucrative contracts in NHL history felt like an eternity -- even if it only took 18 grueling days.

But for Kovalchuk’s agent Jay Grossman, the process began 12 months ago, long before the 17-year, $102 million contract was agreed upon Monday, when his highly-skilled client was a member of the Atlanta Thrashers.

“It started with Atlanta on July 1st (of last year) when they could begin negotiating with us,” Grossman said. “We went through a long, long process with them. It did not end up being one where the two sides could (come to an agreement), but again, they moved on and we moved on. And then (Ilya) got the chance to come here (to New Jersey) and see what it was all about. He’s one that takes it all in, understands it and he was always in his mind committed to going to July 1, to see what was out there. He had a lot of compelling options. The difficulty at times was that they were so different. All of what was being presented to us was so drastically different including the proposal that we received from the KHL (Kontinental Hockey League). And in the end, I think, he wanted it all out in front of him and as he said at the press conference be able to sit down with his family and then he after having gone out and seeing what was out there he came full circle and felt this was the place for him.”

It didn’t always seem that Kovalchuk was destined to sign with the Devils. In fact, as of last week, he and Grossman were in Los Angeles, where they were being courted by the Kings. L.A. ultimately made a very compelling offer, upwards of $80 million over 15 years, but in the end it wasn’t enough. Kovalchuk was Jersey-bound.

So just how close was Kovalchuk to being a Los Angeles King?

“Not close enough,” Grossman said. “They were not the only organization that showed interest. We had a number of organizations that did. I will say that Los Angeles made an extremely big push given all they had to offer from their organization and there were a lot of people that were strutted out and the option to play for the Kings is a very enticing one. There’s no question.”

Grossman was asked if he was pushing the two-time 52-goal scorer one way or another during the process. He was also drawing heavy interest from the KHL.

“What I wanted him to do was completely irrelevant,” Grossman said. “I was committed to him whatever decision he was going to make that I was gonna be unconditionally supportive of that decision one way or another. … I gave him my opinion on certain things, but it was his decision; some of which he shared with me, but there were so many considerations that I don’t even think that at the end we could go through one of the points. We went through a lot of but they were so drastically different options that there was just a lot to sort through for sure.”

Grossman credited Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello with how he handled negotiations.

“Lou is the ultimate professional,” Grossman said. “I think he pulled a few tricks out of his Providence College recruiting bag. He was amazing. He was unbelievable. He always called at the right time. He always said the right things. He was respectful of Ilya’s space. His ability to go out there and make a choice. He didn’t ever get ruffled by that. And in the end, in my view, he showed that from all the people in hockey, he showed that he had Ilya’s best interests in mind.”

Kovalchuk said that money never factored into his decision. And Grossman echoed those sentiments.

Getting the most money "was never our objective,” Grossman said. “Obviously we knew that the end result was always going to put Ilya in a good position financially, so the end result was never about that as much as it was sorting through the different choices and, again, I want to emphasize that they were so drastically different. That’s something I’ve never really dealt with. … In this case the offers, the proposals and the discussions were so compelling that I wish we could have said yes to all of them -- including the dollars by the way.”

Grossman said Kovalchuk knew he was going to sign with the Devils on July 17. However, he noted that if the Devils hadn’t acquired him via trade, this deal likely never would’ve come to fruition.

“There were some things we had to sort through and finalize with Lou because we had a pretty good understanding of where we were earlier on in the process,” Grossman said. “He gave us the space and we always knew where he was on the issue. He’s one that always carefully evaluates things. He had a chance to evaluate the player. I’m not sure if he had not traded for him that this would’ve been the result. Because I’m not sure of that from Ilya’s perspective and I’m not sure of that from New Jersey’s perspective.”

Grossman, who also represents recent Devils signees Anton Volchenkov and Johan Hedberg, one of Kovalchuk’s best friends, said his client’s decision to sign with the Devils was merely a coincidence. And, while he respects both players greatly, their acquisitions did not affect his decision.

“They had nothing to do with my contract,” Kovalchuck said.

So was he surprised with how long it took for Kovalchuk to make his decision?

Ilya Kovalchuk address the media and fans after signing 17-year, $102 million contract with DevilsIlya Kovalchuk says that he is set for the rest of his life. The Russian left winger agreed to a 17-year, $102 million contract with the Devils on Monday. He signed the biggest contract in Devils history and the longest deal in NHL history. In the front row for the press conference were teammates Jamie Langenbrunner, Martin Brodeur, Patrik Elias, Zach Parise and Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond. Kovalchuk entered the Verizon Tower behind coach John MacLean and ahead of owner Jeff Vanderbeek and GM Lou Lamoriello.